An elderly voter being assisted to cast her vote for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, in Mumbai.
Credit: PTI photo
New Delhi: At least 60 per cent of 8.95 crore voters exercised their franchise on Monday during the phase 5 of Lok Sabha elections, amid sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal, poll boycott in a Uttar Pradesh village, slow polling process leading to people leaving without voting and complaints about EVMs malfunctioning.
The Election Commission lamented that the urban voter apathy continued this time too like in 2019 polls with voters in Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Lucknow choosing not to step out in large numbers to vote.
With this, the polling process in 25 states and union territories is over. In the next two phases, 105 seats will go to polls, marking the end of the process and the counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Raebareli and Amethi, which attracted the maximum attention during this phase, were among the 49 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls from where 695 candidates are trying their luck. In the 2019 polls, BJP had 32 out of 49 seats while Congress managed to win only Rae Bareli.
An Election Commission statement pegged the voter turnout at 60.09 per cent at 7:45 PM while the Voter Turnout App showed 60.48 per cent at 9:15 PM. In 2014, phase 5 saw 64.16 per cent turnout.
According to the Voter Turnout App, West Bengal topped the list with 76.05 per cent followed by Ladakh 69.62 per cent, Odisha 69.34 per cent, Jharkhand 63.09 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 57.79 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir 58.17 per cent and Bihar 54.85 per cent. The least turnout was in Maharashtra where 54.33 per cent people voted.
In Raebareli, where top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was fighting, the turnout was 57.85 per cent, up from 56.34 per cent, while in Amethi, which he lost to BJP's Smriti Irani last time, it was 54.17 per cent, up from 54.08 per cent.
Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recorded 55.2 per cent, up from 34.6 per cent in 2019.
In the six seats in Mumbai, the voter turnout did not cross 60 per cent -- Mumbai North 55.21per cent, Mumbai North Central 51.42 per cent, Mumbai North East, 53.75 per cent, Mumbai North West 53.67 per cent, Mumbai South 47.7 per cent and Mumbai South Central 51.88 per cent.
The EC said, "the Parliamentary constituencies in various urban cities like Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Lucknow continued the trend of urban apathy as noticed in the last general elections in 2019." Lucknow clocked 52.03 per cent while Thane saw 49.81per cent and Nashik 57.1 per cent.
There were sporadic incidents of violence involving workers of Trinamool Congress and BJP in all seven seats that went to polls in West Bengal. BJP Hooghly candidate Locket Chatterjee faced a protest from Trinamool Congress led by local MLA Ashima Patra in Hooghly following which the BJP MP shouted slogans against them.
The BJP also accused Trinamool workers of booth jamming leading to clashes between both groups. The central police forces rushed to the area and dispersed them. Trinamool workers staged protests following allegations that central forces were assisting BJP workers for allegedly intimidating voters at some booths of Hooghly.
In Uttar Pradesh, voters of Hisampur Madho village boycotted the polls while Congress claimed EVM malfunctioning. Congress also accused the BJP of not allowing people to cast votes in some booths.
In Maharashtra, there were complaints of a slow polling process leading some voters to return home without voting. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Udhav Thackerey alleged that the EC was attempting to sabotage the polls to benefit the BJP.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray posted on 'X', "a lot of complaints from voters about the facilities outside the booths...At least having the voter lines in shade/fans could help. They don't want much, just basics to stay cool. Please look into it."
In Odisha, an auto-rickshaw driver was hacked to death in Bargarh district. The deceased was carrying some voters to the polling booth.